


My Mechanic

by Espresso-Patronum (BucketRogers)



Series: Stony Bingo Fills [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Community: cap_ironman, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, very minor angst though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 05:03:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16695943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BucketRogers/pseuds/Espresso-Patronum
Summary: Tony didn't know what to expect walking into the garage at 1 am, but Steve sitting on the ground crying was definitely not it.





	My Mechanic

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for my Stony Bingo, specifically the free square.
> 
> Huge thanks to [Serinah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serinah/pseuds/Serinah) and [SoldiersShield](https://soldiersshield.tumblr.com/) for betaing and fixing all the insanity within this story!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

When Tony walked into the garage at 1 AM, he didn’t know what he expected to see, but it definitely was not this. Maybe he would have been prepared for some rats eating the leftovers from a McDonald’s bag, but what he wasn’t ready for was Steve slumped on the ground next to a motorcycle. His shoulders were shaking softly, almost making it look like he was crying.

He hesitated at the door, unsure what to do. He considered slipping out, already overwhelmed by the situation, but when he took another look at Steve’s posture, at how defeated the normally defiant man looked, he couldn’t bring himself to. 

“Oh, uh, Steve, hey.” The man automatically turned around, startled. Tony took a quick step back, giving him space. “Fancy seeing you here, in my garage- I mean the garage, not mine. You can be in here, yeah, don’t need permission, it’s fine. No rules or whatever, you do live here too.” He took a breath and cleared his throat before moving closer. He squatted down next to him, groaning softly at the pain in his back. “So, uh, what’re you up to?”

Steve sighed and looked down, clearly tense. “Nothing, Tony. I’m fine. Just let it go. Give me a few minutes, I’ll be out of the way.” He was about to stand up, but Tony grabbed his arm to stop him.

“No, Steve, hey. I may be wildly misreading this, we know I’m not the best at emotions, but it seems like something is wrong. Talk to me, please.” Tony began to get a little worried, realizing that Steve was seriously upset about something.

Steve hesitated before giving in. He pulled his arm out of Tony’s grasp though. “This was my bike back in the 40s. I found out it had been kept in a museum in Brooklyn, just like it was when I last rode it. I thought I could maybe restore it, get it back to riding condition, but I just… I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Tony frowned. “That’s what this is about? You can’t figure out how to restore a motorcycle? Steve, you realize that that’s a huge undertaking, right? This bike is over 70 years old, it’s a lot of effort to make it rideable again.” He had been trying to comfort him, but his words only seemed to make Steve more upset. Tony saw how he curled in on himself, keeping his back to him. The sight of him looking so small and upset made Tony’s heart hurt.

He was quiet for a moment, thinking through what he could do. He knew he would be able to fix the bike without much trouble, but he doubted just doing it for Steve would fix the situation. He could help him through the restoration, but that was going to be a long process, and nothing could even be started tonight. He needed something that could improve Steve’s mood immediately.

Tony shifted a little closer and rested a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “If you want, I can help? I’ve restored cars before, and I know enough about the tech I could probably do a bike. Plus, I can teach you how to take care of it. Mechanic work can actually be sorta fun once you get the hang of it. Very relaxing.”

“No, Tony, I can’t ask you do that.” Steve attempted to wipe his eyes discreetly, but Tony noticed, of course he did. “I appreciate it, really, but I know how busy you are. I doubt you have the time to help me with something this stupid. It’s just a bike. And anyway, I don’t know how to maintain it. Hardly matters if I can restore it if I can’t keep it in good shape. It’d probably just be a waste of your time.”

_ There we go _ , Tony thought, seeing a way to make Steve happier. He couldn’t restore the entire bike tonight, but maintenance, he could do that.

“Okay, Steve, a couple of things. First, regardless of how little time I have, you’re my friend. Call it team bonding or whatever, I wanna spend time with you. Second, this is my thing. Tech, engineering, mechanics, all of it. Do you seriously think I can’t teach you how to do that stuff too?”

When Steve didn’t respond, Tony just shook his head and stood up. “I should have most of the stuff down here already. Just hang out a bit, I’ll grab what we need, then we can get started.”

Steve stood up quickly, grabbing his arm before he could walk away. “Tony, no. It’s like 1 am, you should be sleeping, not staying down here with me doing damned bike maintenance.”

Tony sighed. “I want to be here with you Steve. And you know me, I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. At least now I can do something useful.” He patted his shoulder gently before walking off to one of the supply closets.

By the time Tony had grabbed everything, Steve had dried his eyes. He actually looked happy now, almost excited, and Tony couldn’t help but smile at the eagerness on his face. Sometimes, specifically, when Steve got happy about something, Tony was reminded of how young he really was. The guy wasn’t even 30, but he just dealt with so much that he shouldn’t have to.

When Steve looked over at him, Tony forced himself out of his thoughts and hurried over. He set down the toolbox and opened it up, pulling stuff out.

“So, I looked up the schematics and tech info about your bike. We should be able to rebuild it, but we’re definitely gonna need to get some parts shipped in. I went ahead and ordered what we need, should be here by the end of the week. For now, I thought I could just walk you through basic maintenance on a more modern bike.” He patted Steve’s shoulder then and led him over to a newer motorcycle.

He dived right into it, starting simple with an oil change and then moving into the harder stuff. He explained everything but made sure that Steve was doing the physical work himself unless he absolutely needed Tony’s help. He only felt a little embarrassed at the surge of pride when Steve was able to replace the rear tire himself.

“So, you’ve really never done any auto maintenance before? Not even before the war?” Tony was watching, leaning against a nearby car as Steve refilled the brake fluid, sitting on the ground. It was silly, but the smile on Steve’s face made him look like a kid on Christmas, and that just made Tony happier.

“No, never. Before the serum, I was too weak to actually do anything. Even if I had been strong enough to use any of the tools, I had so many health issues; being around all the smells and toxins from a car would make me sick. And then after the serum, I never had the chance. I had a bike I used during the war, but I swear, Howard built that thing to withstand a damn bomb, so it never took any major damage in battle. He just did all the routine maintenance whenever it was back at his workshop.”

Steve glanced up after a moment of Tony not responding, and it only took him a second to realize why he was so quiet. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Tony, I didn’t even think-”

“No, it’s fine. Really.” Tony cut him off before he could apologize too much. “Seriously. I just get a little tense thinking about him, but it’s fine. He was your friend, you should be able to talk about him.”

Steve snorted at that. “I honestly don’t know if I would call him a friend. Outside of the Howlies, he was the closest thing I had to a friend, but really, he was more of an acquaintance. He made me cool gear and gave me advice about Peggy, but that was it.”

Tony watched Steve quietly for a moment. “He was obsessed with you, you know? He was so proud of the things he accomplished while working with you. Always said that you ‘spurred him onto greatness,’ or whatever. I may not have liked the old man, but he wasn’t wrong. You make people want to do the right thing, make them want to be better. You make me want to be better.”

There was a tense silence, with Steve almost dumbstruck and Tony trying to figure out how to move the conversation along. He was about to start rambling again when Steve finally spoke.

“Tony, you really mean that?” Steve completely disregarded the brake fluid now, leaving the canister on the floor next to him and looking up at Tony instead.

Tony swallowed dryly and had to take a deep breath, but he nodded. “Yeah, I really do. You’re so good, Steve, you’re just such a good person. You care so much about making sure people are treated right. Hell, you’ve given up your entire life to be a hero, try and save people, when you deserve normalcy and a goddamn vacation more than anyone else. I look at you and I see what I want to be, but never will. A true hero, someone who actually does enough good to make a difference.”

Tony looked away after that, focusing steadfastly on the far wall, but Steve stood up, stepping close enough that he took up Tony’s entire field of vision.

“Really, Tony? Do you seriously not see how amazing you are? You say you could never be like me, but you’re far better than that.” When Tony still tried to look away, Steve caught hold of his head, making sure he had to look at him.

“I’m being serious here, Tony. You sacrifice things I could never even imagine. You may not realize it, but we all see how much you care. We also see the way you take everything that happens and put it on your shoulders. You carry so much guilt with you from things that aren’t even your fault. I’m telling you, you deserve so much more credit than you actually get for the things you do.”

Tony was short on breath now with how close Steve was. The blond was practically towering over him, grasping his face and looking down into his eyes with a passion that left Tony in awe. He could feel the grease on Steve’s hands smearing onto his face, but he couldn’t even care less.

Then, Steve seemed to realize just how close they were. He made a move to pull away, but Tony reached up and grabbed his wrists to stop him. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife as both men started to lean in without even realizing. In a split second, both of them finally went for it, their lips smashing together with an intense hunger.

It was quick, but when they pulled away from each other, they were both breathless and wide-eyed. Steve rubbed a thumb across Tony’s cheek, rubbing grease over it more.

“Well fuck, Steve. I didn’t expect this when I walked into the garage at 1 am, but I am definitely not complaining.” He chuckled and grinned, leaning into Steve’s touch.

Steve smiled, almost shyly. “It’s embarrassing how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Oh, you want to talk about embarrassing? You have no idea. I had Captain America bed sheets until I was 13, and now I’m kissing you. Inside, I am mortified and ready to sink into a black hole.”

His sarcastic rambling just made Steve smile brighter, which in turn made Tony grin. He leaned in, kissing Tony again, but this time gentle and slow. When they finally pulled away, both of them were grinning like fools. 

“You should come upstairs with me, to the penthouse. You can clean up, then we can snuggle in bed together. Or do more?” He bit his lip, suddenly nervous that Steve might turn him down. Steve just pulled him closer and smiled.

“I’d love that, Tony. Anything with you sounds amazing.” He practically nuzzled him, resting his head on top of Tony’s. “My mechanic.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr at [stonky-gayngst](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/stonky-gayngst) and on Pillowfort at [Espresso-Patronum](https://www.pillowfort.io/Espresso-Patronum)!


End file.
